There was so much sport going down this weekend, it was almost too much for us to consume it all, so let’s take a look at some results in our Weekend Sports Wrap. This week we serve up 6 Nations Rugby, World Cup Cricket, BPL football, and a fantastic Chelsea win in the Capital One Cup Final from Wembly.
Brad K
BELIEVE by Randy Frazee
He leads a church in San Antonio, Texas, and he’s a thorough inspiration. Randy Frazee has put together another teaching masterpiece, hot on the heels of the top selling Bible, The Story. The Story is an abridged, chronological Bible that reads like a novel, and with Believe, you get a topical, but shortened version of the NIV Bible, focusing on 30 key beliefs, practices and virtues intended to help readers uncover the core truths of the Christian faith and apply them to their lives.
I had a great time hanging out with Randy Frazee on his visit to South Africa, to promote his book. We spent time talking about Believe (of course) and also about parenting, understanding our identity in Christ and also as part of an earthly family, and we laughed about stereotyping Texans! The man is inspirational and has had a radical impact on me, even though we only spent less than an hour in each others company. Here’s what he had to say about Believe….
Of Beauty and Rage – RED
It seems totally absurd that I’ve never done a RED album review before. Laughable. I’m such a huge fan of the band, I even give their albums away as birthday gifts, you know, to share the joy. Now that you know how I feel about the band, you’re probably concerned that this review is going to be so one sided, that you won’t buy it out of principle. Oh, and I’m sure you’re convinced I get a smidgen of their distributor’s marketing budget, or something, since I’m so vocal about the lot of them – you know, to drive profits. The only perk is that I get to listen to the entire album without paying for it, so I think that’s a win, but since I’m really familiar with the group, it stands to reason that I might actually say something so truthful about OF BEAUTY AND RAGE that it will surprise you. I’m trusting for the latter here, and you deserve my best, so here goes:
I’m not madly in love with Of Beauty and Rage. I’m not. Maybe I need to give it more time to soak in. It’s RED, so even the non-fan will admit they are the real deal. They remain a tight, hard-rock band that honours God and their fans with a level of professionalism that will put many other bands to shame. They have the credentials; they have the Grammy nominations and they have the album sales and they have the fan base, and the #1 radio singles, and they have those strings…be still my racing heart! Release the Panic was orchestra and strings free for the most part, and although that was my favourite album out of the previous 4, it was only a few months later that we saw Release the Panic: Re-Calibrated; a 6 song mini release that reincorporated the orchestral backing and those strings and a few other bits of production brilliance and of course, the final bit of input from drummer Joe Rickard.
Of Beauty and Rage sees a full album return of the strings and the orchestra that many love, but with it, a level of darkness that smacks of pain, hurt and, well, rage. I was discussing this album with a music crazy friend and we agreed unanimously that the music is very heavy. Not only in guitar sounds, but in emotional weight. Of Beauty and Rage is an emotional expression that somehow draws you in, and it is impossible to do another activity while listening to this album. It requires a lot of the listener. It’s like a steam train journey, where you can’t sit back and look out the window at the view; you are in the engine room, shoveling coal. You can’t help but wonder what has made Michael, Anthony and Randy just so frustrated, but when you get that the album portrays the depths of rage and despair and then the light of redemption, you have your “aha moment”. Of Beauty and Rage is not really very new, in terms of RED’s overall sound, as the screams of Michael Barnes are there as you’d expect but sounding all the more desperate. The return of Rob Graves in production is a pleasant twist, and the fact that this is RED’s first fan-sourced release is something to mention, but the freedom of being independent hasn’t really produced anything too wayward. Why move away from a working recipe, right? The album tends to drag on a bit and I had to take a break more than once on several listens through the hour long album. Oh yes, and also look out for the accompanying graphic novel that will add to your OBAR experience.
All in all, where some are saying this is the best RED album ever, this reviewer is struggling. But, when it comes to RED, the bar is so high, and the expectations even higher, and I’m not blown away by Of Beauty and Rage. As a RED fan, it’s in my collection; but I might not be reaching for it as often as Release the Panic or Innocence and Instinct. I will however be heading straight to the standout tracks, Of These Chains and Darkest Part, and I love the instrumental, Ascent.
Rating: 6/10
Here’s the single Darkest Part, my stand out track.
Represent – Emmanuel David Hassan
We’ve reached the second half of the week and that means it’s time for one of our 1Africa friends to Represent! This week we’re in Nigeria, and it’s the turn of Emmanuel David Hassan to have a time to shine. He’s a student, and 1 of eleven children and the attitude of the man, is something to behold. Let Emmanuel encourage you as he shares sage-like wisdom and gives God the glory for what he has achieved.
If you’d like to feature on 1Africa’s REPRESENT, we need your details, so simply send us an SMS that starts with the words “I want to REPRESENT” followed by your name, your contact number and your home country, to +27 782 785 300 or you can leave those same details in the comment section below. We can’t wait to connect with you!
Parables Are Confusing
I’ve often longed that the parables of Jesus could be straight forward. I’ve often read through them and wondered exactly what they might mean. Also, I’m afraid to assume I know the meaning because then I might miss out on the real meaning should I get it wrong. It’s all too much. A while back someone wrote a newspaper article that slammed Christianity by quoting certain Old Testament bits and pieces, and a work colleague at the time got all nervous and started to wonder if this article was in fact correct and as someone who was at that stage asking questions about Christianity, this made him all wobbly. He actually seemed very flustered and I reassured him with this piece of seemingly obvious advice: Why not read it for yourself, understand the context, and to whom it is written and why, then get your head around the truth versus what was written in the news article. We ended up doing this together and he felt a lot better knowing that the author of that newspaper article had it all wrong. It didn’t take a rocket scientist, it just took some calm and a few minutes. So now I’m trying to use my own advice and go about parable deciphering in the same way. I still wish it were more straight forward. Actually, it would be a whole lot easier if Jesus didn’t use parables to start with and just tell us straight. But then again, who am I to question Jesus? Yeah, exactly!
Now we can go and have a gander at Luke chapter 19’s Parable of the 10 minas. This isn’t the forum to go through an entire exegesis, but I do want to say this, very quickly: Jesus was confusing on purpose. I don’t like it, and I can’t speak for you, but life is complicated enough; I’m sure instructions for great living should be a little plainer to see, don’t you think? You see, Jesus wanted people to be curious and a bit confused. It was a way to separate people into a group of intrigued folks who wanted to know more and so pursued Jesus, and desired to know what he meant and in the process, discovered more about the Man and what He was like and what the Kingdom of God is like. The other group said something like: “This is all too confusing and I can’t be bothered to figure it out, so I’m outta here.” The proof is at the end of John, chapter 6.
The fact that you question is good, means you are seeking after the truth of God and what He desires of us as we pursue His kingdom, its righteousness and sharing the Good News with others. Walking away is the easy way out, and in Matthew 13 Jesus tells His disciples that very thing. I want to challenge you to seek the things of the kingdom; to desire to understand what Jesus taught and why, and to purposely read and press on to understand His parables. Allow them to spur debate and discussion and reshape some of your thinking if need be. Let’s desire to be people that have a renewed passion for the words of the Saviour, and as they did 2 thousand-odd years ago, let it cause us to follow him even more fervently, and stop at nothing for more of Him.
Fifty Shades of Grey
It would seem that one cannot escape Fifty Shades of Grey. Our local cinema group this past week bragged of the biggest box office record for a single day since 1995. It topped that record by 47%. The majority of the Valentine’s Day bookings were made using the company’s smartphone app and made it the most pre-booked day in the cinema company’s history. I headed to the UK’s Official music singles chart, and at number 1? Ellie Goulding’s Love Me Like You Do, off the 50 Shades of Grey Soundtrack. The motion picture soundtrack is at number 1 on the iTunes Album chart too, and the movie itself is number 1 on everyone’s lips these days, whether they want to sing it’s praises, or rip it to shreds. What am I about to do, you’re wondering? You’re about to find out.
I have not read E.L James’ novel as I choose not to, and I haven’t seen Sam Taylor-Johnson’s film either as I choose not to. I am however very familiar with the plot and the general ideas around which 50 Shades of Grey is based. I’ve read, listened to and watched trailers, synopses, and reviews from mainstream and Christian perspectives. In no way am I in the dark. Knowing what I know I need to ask this question: What’s the big deal? We’ve had erotic books and movies for years, so what is the sudden craze? Society has been happy to deal with their own private and sexual idiosyncrasies behind closed doors for centuries, and mostly labelled taboo and now this liberal step forward has people filling seats and shattering box office records. I scratch my head. Is it because someone dared make it mainstream and collectively everyone has an ’emperor’s new clothes’ mentality, and if you frown at Ms Jame’s book you’re a prude with a ziplock-sealed mind who clearly has no hope? And everyone is just going with it. In between the Instagram pics of you and the ladies at the cinema and your Facebook comments on the film you just watched, you abhorrently frown at local news streamed to your phone of another rape or trafficked sex slave. It’s almost as if people simply cannot see that the very thing that has them cringing, has thrilled them for 2 hours, and they had popcorn and a Coke. It’s just that the wolf is dressed in Hollywood’s best and if everyone says it’s ok, then who are we to argue. Is it that there’s a love story there that hides the truth of what Mr Grey believes and lives to play out?
Huffington Post had an article saying that 50 Shades must not be seen as sex education because it is giving young people the wrong message. Even mainstream media is questioning whether this is a good idea, but then others are saying that the female lead, Anastasia, eventually ‘cures’ Christian Grey. But does she? This debate could go on for hours, and at the exact moment we all start stepping down off our soup boxes, the movie is still being sold out in cinemas and Amazon cannot keep up with book orders. People will do what they do, even if it’s not good for them. The consequences: now those are the problems we deal with long after the popcorn has been swept up and the movie house doors have been locked.
The truth is that there is the right way to love and to be loved. A kind of love that is patient and kind. Love that does not dishonour and is not self seeking. A love that is loyal and never fails. It’s not E.L James’ ideas of love, but it is God’s idea. You may have thoughts on what you’ve heard and seen around the marketing machine that is pushing 50 Shades of Grey. You might have very strong feelings for or against, but let us remember that our opinions remain just that, and can often just be little waves, only lapping up against the ship that is Truth. It cannot be shifted. We have a choice to base our principles and the direction on our lives on a here today, gone tomorrow set of worldly ideas, or you can set you life on a firm foundation of love, respect and faith, that is a guiding light, not just for 21st century living, but for eternity.
Weekend Sports Wrap – 23 Feb ’15
The ICC Cricket World Cup is well underway and we’ve got the weekend’s results and more,right here on our 1Africa Weekend Sports Wrap.
Represent – Innocent Nnaji
Here’s another opportunity for a 1Africa fan to have his voice heard. It’s Represent time, and this week it’s the chance of Nigerian, Innocent Nnaji, to shine a spotlight onto his slice of our continent. This man has dreams and he’s not afraid to voice them. Have a listen.
Are you seeing yourself as the next 1Africa friend to REPRESENT? Simply send us an SMS that starts with the words “I want to REPRESENT” followed by your name, your contact number and your home country, to +27 782 785 300 or you can leave those same details in the comment section below.
How Dirty Is Your Cell Phone?
I’ve seen people take their phones into a bathroom cubicle, hang out there for a few minutes (we all do it, stop giggling!) and then out they come. They wash their hands…but they don’t wash their phones. Obviously. So we’re happy to touch our phones while we’re sitting there (same bacteria, right?) but only make sure our hands are clean, and don’t give our phones a thought. I even use the paper towel with which I’ve just dried my hands, to open the door again. But then I just touch my phone again. That’s disgusting. We shake hands with people, we put our phones on the kitchen counter, someone else handles out phones to look at that cat meme we posted, and then we take the phone back and hold it against our faces to take a call. Yuck! So how dirty is your cell phone right now, at this very moment?
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, at the University of London, looked at cell phones in 12 cities in the U.K. They took 390 samples from cell phones and hands and then they checked to see just how dirty they all were. Are you holding onto your chairs? Out of the 390 cell phones analysed. 92% of phones had bad bacteria on it as did 82% of the hands tested. 16% of the phones had E. Coli bacteria on it. That comes from poop, people! And we put our phones down and spread those germs around some more. And now the grossness just continues. We keep our phones in our pockets or our bags, where it’s warm, and bacteria love it when it’s warm. They spread there. And then your phone rings and you put it against your face and it could touch your lips and….it’s too horrible to think about. No wonder facial skin is effected and we get sick and make others sick. We wash our hands often and shower or bath at least once a day; but do we ever clean our cell phones or their pouches or cases?
Check this out.
To stop this craziness, we need to wash our hands and our cell phones, regularly. And we should probably resist the temptation to sit and text on the toilet? The general consensus seems to be that we should take our phones out of their plastic or rubber covers, if we have them, and clean those under hot water, with lots of soap or antibacterial wash, or better still, replace them. And for the phones themselves, perhaps a wipe with a soft cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol or spirits. Oh and let me remind you again: Wash your hands! I’m still completely freaked out by all of this, and will struggle to see my phone the same way again!
Have you ever cleaned your phone? Did you ever consider that it could be making you sick because it houses those nasty bugs?
What Is The Truth?
I recently heard a woman talk about astroturf. Yes, it’s the name given to artificial grass that never needs watering or mowing, but in this context, it was used to refer to a fake grassroots story. This journalist was implying that larger corporations, pharmaceutical companies and the like, have paid PR professionals that create and manage social media platforms that push a particular agenda. She even mentioned that there are non-profit organisations created by these mighty corporations to act almost as fronts that encourage us that all that is being said, is in fact true. So it’s layer upon layer of deceit, with every angle covered. So called ‘independent research’ is not independent at all but is actually funded by these big companies and they even present training seminars to convince professionals even further and train them in these areas, and these are also funded by the large corporations. So from the very grass root level, things are not as they seem. It’s all a conspiracy theorist’s nirvana really, and it’s enough to garner a few truck loads of ‘I told you so!’ Having listened to her talk, and giving it a pretty darn good dose of my own thoughts, I’ve come to thinking that maybe there is a bit of truth here. I enjoy reading up on the latest local political trends, and I’ve come to enjoy the creativity of the spin doctors, and how often you want to give yourself a good old face palm when you hear the kind of political drivel they serve up to try and convince us why certain things were said or done a particular way, and I feel like I can see right through it. But many don’t and simply swallow all the propaganda. I’m sure it’s happened the other way around many times as well. Very little is as it seems and fear mongering aside, we need to understand that when money and power are up for grabs, people are willing to do anything. There must be a lot of truth in this ‘astroturfing’, but then, you have to ask the next logical question: What is the truth? I don’t know. Perhaps, in certain areas of life we need to just go with out gut feelings, a good dose of wisdom, and some trial and error. But how can we be so unsure of what is the absolute truth in some areas? In and among all the ‘astroturfing’ there must be something that is actually truth. The unfabricated, propaganda-less chunk of what is really going on; unpolluted by ill intent or greed. Is there such a thing? There must be, but I doubt that we’ll ever know.
I’ve come to realise that almost everything requires questioning of some kind or the other. I’ve been really open in this forum about my Christianity. We all are, here at 1Africa. We are not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus and it’s ability to bring freedom and hope, despite what we see around us. Have I even questioned my beliefs? Of course. I have tens and tens of books that form part of my journey and to build my faith and direct me and of course, the Bible is on top of that list. I’ve come to realise, from many incredible experiences, and having seen my life and actions shift because of what I’ve chosen to believe, that what I’ve read in the Bible is truth. That journey is something we all need to take. We all seem to have developed trust issues and have become skeptical, but choosing the base on which you want to build your lives is not something to be taken lightly. I know that what I read in the Bible is true because I’ve seen it in action in my life and even when I can’t fully explain something, I exercise FAITH. That is the key here. You will hear opinions all day long, for and against, but I choose to say it’s true, because I’ve applied faith and I stand firm on that. I keep it simple and in line with God’s desires for my life and exercise wisdom around all the extra bits that come flying in from every angle. It’s part of my journey and I can’t help but wonder what journey you’re on. Do you have questions and are you struggling to deal with a particular concept? Do you need every single question answered, or are you happy to run on faith?
If you’ve come to a place of asking those tough, potentially life-changing questions, and would really like sound answers, why not click on the link below and see if you can find what you’re searching for.